Erica Sandlund, Professor of English
Erica Sandlund grew up in Norrbotten and began her studies at Luleå University of Technology, and later transferred and completed her studies at Karlstad University and the University of Tennessee. She was admitted to a research programme at Karlstad University in English linguistics in 1999 and successfully defended her doctoral thesis in 2004, which looked at how affect manifests itself in language and social interaction.
During her time as a doctoral student, she spent one semester at San Diego State University where she also collected data for her thesis project. Her master’s degree in English also covered subject studies in psychology from Karlstad and the US.
Erica Sandlund began working at Karlstad University in 1997 as a substitute study counsellor, followed by a research assistant position in 1999, a senior lectureship in 2006 and earned the title of docent in 2014. She has also taught courses in psychology and been active as a researcher at the Center for Gender Studies. As of 2022, she is also the Deputy Head of the Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies. For a few years, she has also held a parallel part-time lectureship at the Department of Education at Uppsala University, where she has conducted research on learning in working life.
"My research is about language, social interaction and social action in different contexts such as language classrooms, in organisations and in media. The common thread throughout my career has been my interest in conversational interaction and how we achieve different social roles, actions and institutions in conversations, and I do this mainly through ethnomethodological conversation analysis. With the help of conversation analysis, I have studied second language speaking tests, language teaching in the classroom, employee interviews in organisations, news interviews and teachers’ joint assessment meetings, among other things. In recent years, my research has had a clear focus on subject-specific education, which means that it has been both conducted and conveyed in close collaboration with schools, pupils and teachers."
Erica Sandlund has her head full of ideas for future projects that feed into the ongoing projects, and she looks forward to working even more with expanding and developing existing research programmes.
"It is always special when you receive news that a research project has been granted funding, my colleagues and I have many stories along the lines of “what I was doing the exact moment I got the news”. These turn into shared stories and memories, but also serve as a reminder of all the hard work that goes into a successful application. I’m grateful that I have a job where I get to continue my professional development every day, and that I get the opportunity to be creative together with others."
Erica Sandlund loves to travel and explore the world locally and globally with her family. She also enjoys training with her dog and nature walks is a daily routine. Her favourite place to be is by the water, and despite having lived in Värmland since 1994, her heart still very much belongs to Norrland.